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13th TWICKENHAM (St. Mary’s) SCOUT GROUP, 1908 – 2008

Scouting was established by Robert Baden-Powell in 1907 and soon after, in the summer of 1908, a troop was established in Twickenham.
Most early scout troops were sponsored by bodies – often churches –
which could provide accommodation and some financial help. The
Twickenham troop was founded by the Revd A E T Raven after
he had secured the approval of the vicar of St Mary’s, Prebendary
Prosser. The founder was known and loved by members of all
denominations, and by many outside the church, in Twickenham. He was
often outspoken on social issues, but his sincerity was respected even
by those who did not agree with him. The first two patrols were Wolves
and Kangaroos, followed shortly by Lions, and by November the troop was
24 strong.

Initial meetings were in the front room of Arragon House, facing St Mary’s Church, where the Rev A E T Raven lived. Growing numbers made a transfer to the Mission Room and subsequently the Parish Room necessary,
but when the latter was re-built in 1913 it was regarded as too good to
be used by the scouts! A series of temporary homes followed for the
scout troop and the cub pack. In 1918 the pack and then the troop moved
to St Mary’s Schools, not then rebuilt, where there was
little space. In 1922 a wooden building was constructed on the site of
the old St Mary’s Hall, eventually housing scouts, cubs, guides and
brownies. In 1932 the hut was sold and the ground used to build the old
St Mary’s Hall. As compensation the scouts were allowed the free use of
St Mary’s Schools, which had been rebuilt in 1930 and were now more
spacious, and also used the Parish Room for games and test evenings.

The provision of a separate
headquarters remained a long-term objective. An opportunity came in 1938
when a piece of ground on The Embankment was bought for £200 by the
group. WWII put paid to any thoughts of building and funds were still
desperately short. In 1956 the Schools had to be vacated by the troop in
favour of other users. Scout meetings reverted to the Mission Room,
which was far too small for its growing numbers.

In 1958 the scout group agreed to allow Twickenham Yacht Club to
use part of the plot of ground for storage of boats. The same year
there was a public exhibition by the Council with a new plan for the
Church Street area, which involved the use of the scout ground. Dr J W T “Doc” Walsh,
honorary treasurer and past scoutmaster and group scoutmaster, wrote to
the Town Clerk stating that the scout group could only abandon the site
if an alternative site was made available. In 1959 a piece of ground in
Seymour Gardens, belonging to the Council, was
identified as being available for exchange. Brian Frankcombe, an
architect and ex-scout, then volunteered to design a headquarters
building in 1960 and planning permission was received in April 1961.

Various grants were also applied for
and received and in July the building firm of Marley’s erected the
concrete framework for the new building. Volunteer labour was to be used
as much as possible and it was later estimated that voluntary work had
halved the cost of the project, from around £8000 to around £4000. “Doc”
Walsh was still involved in the project, as was Donald H “Simbo” Simpson who
had taken over as group scoutmaster from “Doc” Walsh in 1957 and held
that position until 1981, along with a small band of dedicated helpers.

The foundation stone was laid by “Doc” Walsh on 24 March 1962 together
with some 1962 coins laid by others. Sadly “Doc” Walsh died in July
1962; he had been associated with the group for nearly 50 years and
probably saved it from dissolution on two occasions. Building work and
fund raising continued but this was not helped by the exceptionally cold
winter of 1962-63 with thick snow on the ground for many weeks.

Finally the new headquarters was opened on 15 June 1963 by J F Colquhoun (Chief Scout’s Commissioner). After
55 years the group finally had a permanent home. In 1970 a new wing,
balancing the entrance, was added to provide stores for the guides and
for the group. In 1983 a beaver colony was started and girls were also
allowed to join the venture scouts.

In 2007 the World Scout Jamboree was
held in the UK for the first time in 50 years and the site at Hylands
Park, Chelmsford, Essex was visited for the day by all the Sections.

St Mary’s Scout Group is still thriving after 100 years and is looking forward to its next 100 years.